Disaster exercise plan underway for Keesler

Published March 23, 2011
By Steve Pivnick
81st Training Wing Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Planning is well underway for a major disaster exercise to be conducted May 16-20. However, Keesler will "play" for only one day.

"Ultimate Caduceus 2011" was developed to bring together federal, state, local and tribal jurisdictions to improve communication and establish future joint operating procedures.

This is to test response to a weapons of mass destruction and/or mass casualty event requiring field response and evacuation of patients from areas that have been overwhelmed by casualties, according to Robert Tash, National Disaster Medical System Federal Coordinating Center Emergency Management Area coordinator. This exercise tests the ability to immediately move critical patients to areas with available medical care within one to four hours of being injured."

"This exercise will utilize current operational and medical concepts of operations used by federal entities in emergency medical operations to enhance patient decontamination and emergency medical care functions within local jurisdictions," said Mr. Tash, who's assigned to the 81st Medical Support Squadron's readiness flight.

"Annual exercises are conducted by various entities to meet individual organizational requirements, but a coordinated effort on the scale of this national level exercise is seldom undertaken."

The exercise scenario calls for a 7.7 magnitude earthquake striking the New Madrid Seismic Zone northwest of Memphis, triggering a magnitude 7.7 event in the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone. Mr. Tash said among the main participants in the major training event are the National Capital Region; Federal Emergency Management Agency Regions IV, V, VI and VII; the eight Central United States Earthquake Consortium member states (Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri); and other potential supporting states.

"The exercise is designed to build on lessons from prior events," Mr. Tash said.

"Federal, state and local response units will be deployed. Keesler has been designated as an aerial port of debarkation for casualties and patient movement. Keesler's play will involve activating the NDMS FCC and a patient reception area once the mission assignment has been issued. Our FCC will coordinate patient reception and routing to the South Mississippi NDMS-participating partner hospitals as deemed necessary."

Mr. Tash noted key elements in the exercise will include response personnel's movement and actions, equipment availability and familiarty and determining equipment and supply needs for a patient reception event.

A total of 35 mannequins representing patients will be airlifted by C-130 Hercules aircraft to the Keesler APOD. The aircraft will be parked next to the patient reception area in Hangar 4, where the mannequins will be replaced by live "patients." Once the patients have been processed, they'll be transported to area hospitals by ground or "Life Flight" helicopter.

"The exercise's primary objective is to evaluate whether federal, state and local plans and procedures to execute emergency plans are adequate and feasible in a patient evacuation scenario," Mr. Tash said. "In addition, it will provide training and experience for officials who would play key roles in managing and coordinating patient reception operations. It may also identify issues, policies, resource needs and potential problem areas that could negatively impact an actual patient reception event, allowing plans and procedures to be modified or changed."

He added that the exercise offers participants the opportunity to conduct operations that bring together multiple agencies, each with different goals and objectives, at various levels of complexity and size under a joint concept of operations.

It also tests the use of two mass casualty patient tracking programs (TRAC2ES and JPATS) from the reception site to the medical care facility. Finally, it gauges the 81st MDG FCC's ability to establish a patient reception area and coordinate patient evacuation and movement to area NDMS hospitals.

In addition to the 81st MDG, expected participants include elements of the 81st Training Wing, Biloxi Veterans Affairs Medical Center, American Medical Response, Acadian Ambulance and Air Service and The Salvation Army of South Mississippi, Biloxi Regional Medical Center, Singing River Hospital, Ocean Springs Hospital, Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, Garden Park Medical Center and Hancock County Medical Center are also participating. Other agencies will be included as planning continues.